Best of the Backlist: The Diary of a Bookseller

Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell

While we were at the Midwest Independent Bookseller Association’s gathering in Minnesota last year, we were lucky enough to visit a few bookshops (as we do). And at Magers and Quinn, we discovered The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell. We started reading it in the car on the way back to Missouri and found ourselves nodding at many of his experiences running a bookshop. Although located in the Scottish village of Wigtown, The Bookshop could very well be Yellow Dog Bookshop. Quirky customers, the vagaries of weather, and the joy of discovering a special book - these are all part of the yearly cycle of bookselling. Bythell peppers the book with quotes from George Orwell’s “Bookshop Memories,” and while we aren’t quite as irascible as Orwell, we recognize the peculiar hardships of dealing in used books.

We are still reading parts out loud to one another and laughing along or cringing with recognition about the less romantic parts of running a bookshop. It’s quite delightful and has inspired Kelsey to read a subgenre of books about bookshops - more about that from Kelsey in a future blog post.

Best of the Backlist Book Review: The Serpent King

I used to pride myself on not crying during emotional scenes in books, though as I’ve grown older and gained more world experience, I find myself moved to tears by books more often. Sometimes you can see me crying in the front window of my favorite coffee shop.  The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner is one such book that has reached down into my soul and tugged at each miniscule heartstring (perhaps I’ll write a future post entitled “Austin’s Top 5 YA Novels for Clearing Out Your Tear Ducts”), possibly ripping a few out before fitting them all back together.

Zentner takes us to rural Tennessee as we follow our protagonist, Dill, and his two best friends, Lydia and Travis, through their final year of high school. Dill struggles in poverty; with his father (a snake handling minister) in prison, Dill’s own unclear future seems grim. Lydia, using her fashion blog as a platform, struggles with busting out of the rural scene in a community where she feels boxed in and stifled. Travis, on the other hand, deals with his “social outcast” label - at home and at school - by escaping into fantasy novels and games (he even has a cool wizard staff). The three, however, have an incredibly deep bond that allows them to see each other’s flaws while still being supportive through their difficult times. At its heart, The Serpent King is tale of friendship, doubt, depression, and coming to terms with reality.

I feel like Jeff Zentner was channeling my inner spirit into three completely different characters. Dill’s struggle with religion, Lydia’s desire to leave her rural town, and Travis’ escapism through fiction are issues that I have dealt with in my past (and possibly still struggle with on occasion). With that knowledge, it’s quite possible (probability states 100% likely) that I’m giving this rating and review out of pure emotional connection. Someone else may read the book and find flaws that I never perceived, yet I think that is the power of this book: I was so emotionally invested in the characters (if less so with Lydia than Dill and Travis) that I didn’t notice potential flaws. I can’t even name any at this point because I just remember hoping my new “friends” would be ok!

I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who enjoys more contemporary, realistic worlds that focus on building relationships. Considering this book made me cry AND it was a debut novel for Jeff Zentner, I’d give this book 5 out of 5 Awesome Austin Points. As far as debut novels go, Zentner outdid himself with characterization while exploring religion and growing up in rural America in the present age. Get out there and read it! - Austin Miller (resident YA expert)

[Hey everyone! In case you missed my last review on Scythe by Neal Shusterman, this is Review #2 of my Top Five picks (in no particular order) from the 2018-2019 Gateway Readers Award Nominees. There’s information on the award here and the Top 15 books here. The committee always welcomes volunteer readers!]

Best of the Backlist Book Review: Winter's Bone

There are some books that get a lot of hype, and I put off reading them. The Kite Runner was one of those – and when I finally picked it up, it took all of one paragraph for me to decide it was worth all the hype. Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Woodrell, is another such book. I was hooked immediately, not just by the unique narrative voice in which Woodrell writes, but also the vividness with which he brings to life a dark, dirty winter in the Ozarks.

This is a book that says no more than it must – but paints its scenes with amazing clarity. It is a book of subtlety and silences, of knowing what cannot be told and telling without speaking; a book of steely women and violent men. Our protagonist, Ree Dolly, must find her father, a crank cook who will forfeit his house and land if he misses his court date. Frustrated by the poverty which has stunted her life and threatens to ruin her younger brothers’ future, she refuses to back down to anyone as she navigates the clan’s Ozark omertà for any hint that will prevent her own family’s ruin. It is a brutal and beautiful story that will linger in your mind long after you finish. 

- Joe, Owner & Inventory Manager

Best of the Backlist Book Review: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Review of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Joe, owner of Yellow Dog Bookshop.

This book was sad and funny, heartbreaking and hopeful; it starts out as a light read but develops into a deep story.

Gabrielle Zevin tells the story of A.J., the lonely, widowed, curmudgeonly owner of Island Books, and Amelia, an ambitious publisher rep who is determined to sell him a load of books. A valuable book disappears, an infant is left in the shop, and A.J. and Amelia find their lives completely transformed.

Each section of the book begins with an epigraph from a short story, which we eventually learn are the stories chosen by A.J. for Maya, the baby he raised in the bookshop. As the book draws to its tearful yet triumphant close, you will find yourself wanting to read it all over again. Even if you’re not a bookstore owner like me, this story will touch you deeply and, I hope, encourage you to pass on your own love of books to others.

Favorite Reads 2017

Our Favorite Reads of 2017!

Kelsey:

Last year I read a ton of books… this year, not so much. I started a lot of books but I wasn’t able to finish all of them. Maybe it was the general malaise I felt / feel about what is happening in our country or maybe my obsession with true crime podcasts filled my drive time / audio-book time.

Of the books I did manage to read all the way to the end, these were my three favorites:

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter navigates the duality of her world, between her working class family life in a poverty-stricken neighborhood and her experiences with her wealthy private school friends. When one of her best friends from the neighborhood is killed, Starr’s life is turned upside down and she must reconcile the two spheres she’s been living in. I got to walk around in Starr’s world during one of the hardest times of her life and I feel lucky to have spent time with a smart, funny, loving character who chooses to speak up for the injustice she witnesses.

2. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West

You may have heard of Lindy West from the episode of This American Life: Tell Me I’m Fat where she talks about being trolled on the internet about her weight and how she chose to fight back. Shrill is a memoir about misogyny, fat shaming, falling in love, being a writer, and much more. West’s voice is powerful and cuts through the bullshit about what’s “appropriate” to talk about.

3. The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman

Goodman once again sets her suspenseful story in the Hudson River Valley, this time focusing on two married writers who move back to their college town and into the historic, unnerving house of their former professor. As always, the writing is clear and crisp with a bit of supernatural mystery thrown in to make this an easy and fun read.

I set out to read over 30 books in 2017 and only finished 10. My goal for 2018 is to finish 25 books, which feels very ambitious after having just typed the previous sentence...

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Joe:

Finding time to read has been a struggle ever since we opened the shop - but I still read whenever I can! Here are my favorites from the past year:

1. Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (2010)

I cannot believe it took me seven years to get around to reading this book - and now I recommend it to everyone I can. Set in a future Africa, this novel turns the conventional fantasy narrative on its head. Onyesonwu is a would-be sorceress in search of a teacher, but as an outcast child of rape it is difficult for her even to find a friend. When she comes into her power, she sets out on a quest to find and destroy her father, and the consequences of her journey go beyond anything she envisioned.  Mixing the biting humor of Onyesonwu’s narration with stark commentary on the brutality of ethnic violence and weaponized rape, Okorafor transports us and transforms us.

2. China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh (1992)

This multilayered sci-fi novel follows “Rafael” Zhang, an engineer in New York, in a future America dominated by China. The story is mostly from Zhang’s perspective, but also from those whose lives he connects to around the world. Zhang and his friends negotiate the tensions between individual expression and the good of the community, the difficulty of living in an inherently unfair world, and the importance of finding and spreading peace. Ahead of its time both for featuring a gay protagonist and for its uncanny (and unnerving) predictions of our future, this book will remain with you long after you finish it.

3. On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder/How to Fight by Thich Nhat Hanh (both 2017)

These two slim volumes provide outsized advice on how to live and function in present-day America. In the first, Timothy Snyder provides twenty actions for resisting the advance of tyranny, and the necessary historical context from the past century to understand how tyrannical governments have taken power and held it. The second, by Zen Buddhist and spiritual writer Thich Nhat Hanh, teaches us how to maintain our peace in the face of suffering, struggle, and real anger at injustice, and how to channel negative emotion in a positive way. Neither of these books offers easy solutions, but both offer us a path to work toward a better world, from the personal to the local to the global level.

I’m looking forward to reading more this next year - right now I’m in the middle of Pale Fire by Nabokov, just starting Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage (beginning a new series in the world of His Dark Materials), and about to begin A Short History of Reconstruction, by Eric Foner - and beyond that in my stack are Chimimanda Adichie, Ursula K. LeGuin, and more Okorafor. Hope you join us in making 2018 a year of reading!

What book are you most looking forward to reading in 2018?